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Thursday, January 26, 2017

Prospect Trail (Valley of Fire State Park) - 1/25/17

Side Wash to Barney Rock

Red Rock Vista

Kaolin Clay/Sandstone Rock in Wash

Trail Sign at Trailhead

The Prospect Trail Trailhead in the Valley of Fire State Park is located 2.5 miles from the fee booth on the west side of the park or 1.5 miles from the turnoff for the Visitor Center on the east side. It is a small gravel parking area with a cable gate across the gravel road that continues on from here. (Please don't park in front of the gate.) There is an old sign marking the trail and the hike begins out the gravel road. Seven hikers arrived for an exploratory hike since, in the past, this trail has not been well marked. We were pleasantly surprised that trail markers led us the whole way.

First Trail Marker

At first, it was obvious that the trail was an old 2 track road. At the first new trail marker, we veered off the main old road onto an undrivable old road that appears more like a single track trail now.

Surrounded by Red Rock

The trail led us up over a hill where we became surrounded by red rock outcroppings. The "escarpment" of the Valley of Fire "plateau" rose up to our right. This wall of red rock became a constant source of entertainment for us.

The Raven through Small Arch

Playing in Rock Holes

The first formation we noted was The Raven. At first blush, this rock appears to be unbelievably balanced on the ridge. A closer look shows that it is part of a larger rock underneath. But, it makes a great photo! Further up, we noted a huge red rock outcropping that David named Ape Head Rock. Up on the escarpment ridge there is a fairly large arch. And, to the left of the arch, a rock formation appears as an owl's head ... with a little imagination! There are many holey rocks in this area, as well, that lend themselves to messing around. We took a short break here.

Trail Narrows

In this area of the trail, the red rocks narrowed in. It feels like hiking through a forest of tall fat red soldiers.

David's Ape Head Rock

After a short exploration behind the Ape Head Rock, we returned to the trail and crossed another wash that was marked with a trail marker. This led us into the beginning of a drop through a couple of easy scrambles.

Trail Markers keep Coming

First Scramble

The first scramble twisted through a fun red rock crevice. After descending a little further down a gravel wash, we found the second scramble. This scramble has an official go around. But, we found that it was easier to scramble down the rocks then use the go around on the way back up during the return portion of the hike. Another smaller scramble brought us around so that we were above the main wash that runs along the red rock escarpment. Trail markers show where the trail descends to the gravel wash below. (A couple of our hikers found that a more solid route was nearby. The trail is a tad slippery.)

Second Scramble

The trail now travels down this wash that varies from 40 feet to 10 feet wide. There are occasional scrambles but nothing very difficult or scary ... just fun.

Drop into Wash (Note Trail Markers)

We passed by an area we called the Earthquake Zone. So named because of the many house sized boulders that are laying precariously above the trail. It would not be a good place to be hiking if an earthquake were to occur! We also noted the massive biggest blackest desert varnished walls we ever saw on the escarpment above!

Earthquake Zone

Orange meets Red

The first side wash on the left side is an interesting slot type canyon that climbs up to the mesa above. Next came a very colorful section of rock that Valley of Fire does so well. Some of the color is seen in the third photo of this entry. An orange wall is seen in the photo to the right. The escarpment on the right side began to break up and we were guessing what landmarks we were passing by. Yes, the Top of the World Arch was up there not too far. We recognized a few of the hills.

We Three Peaks

We came to another side wash on the left that was marked with a fancy cairn. There were no trail markers around so we turned to see if this was where we should go. It was not the trail but we saw why the fancy cairn was there. Barney!

Barney Rock seen down Side Wash

We named this rock Barney after the purple lovable dinosaur on TV. We stopped here for our break and to decide how much further we wanted to go.

Rock Fall to Right - Trail to Left

Dropping down to Dry Fall and Up Around

We stayed for a long break while a few of the hikers scrambled around on the rocks. Afterwards, we hiked down the wash just a little further to see the rockfall section. On arriving at the rock fall to the right, we veered to the left. The wash goes into a large dry fall here but the trail has an easy go around marked by small cairns on the left side of the dry fall. An exploration up the go around showed that the trail drops into a very familiar section of the White Domes area. Since this was an out and back hike, we decided that we would make this our turnaround point having explored the unfamiliar part of the Prospect Trail.

Up Around marked with Small Cairns

Time to start the return. Hiking up the gravel wash was not difficult since the rock in the wash was largish. It is not the small fine gravel that is so annoying to ascend.

Starting Return up Wash

The pace throughout the hike was quick even though the breaks were substantial in length. We hiked back up the wash at a strenuous gait.

Small Squeeze

Passing Landmarks on Way Back

The trail is well marked where the it leaves the wash and scrambles back up to the overland trail. Once we were hiking that trail, the distance went by fast. We crested that initial hill and saw our cars parked a mile away. Even though this part of the hike is just down through the desert, it was a good cool down as we descended back to the cars. Now that the Prospect Trail is well marked, this Valley of Fire official trail should not be ignored. There is great scenery and fun easy scrambling. Go see the Ape Head and Barney Rocks!

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As a group of people who have climbed over the age 50 mark and still have very young hearts (pun intended), we welcome new members and guests to our club. It is easy to join. Just show up at a hike rated leisurely and pay your yearly dues of $5. If you aren't sure about it, be our guest for one hike. You will be required to sign a waiver of liability and a release of your image to be used on this website if you happen to walk inadvertently in front of a camera.

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Points to Ponder

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